The Third Edition includes substantial revisions and new material throughout the book that will secure its standing as the most useful history available of preindustrial Europe. During the seven hundred years before the Industrial Revolution, the stage was set for Europe's transformation from a backward agrarian society to a powerful industrialized society. An economic historian of international reputation, Carlo M. Cipolla explores the process that made this transformation possible. In so doing, he sheds light not only on the economic factors but on the culture surrounding them.

First published in 1993. In this classic textbook, Cipolla explores the slow but complex process of development that transformed Europe from its relatively weak position in AD 1000 into the highly dynamic and powerful society of 1700. The book is: * Interdisciplinary - blending the economist's and the historian's approach * Full of sources and commentary derived not only from social and economic history, but from the history of medicine, technology and ideas * Substantially revised for this new edition, to provide a greater wealth of illustrative material throughout the book * More detailed than the previous edition in its coverage of a number of specific topics including: the history of public debt; the development of the monetary system; the development of trade routes and production; and the evolution of particular national economies The author has also added many new illustrations, tables and figures.

The history of science is a story of human discovery--intertwined with religion, philosophy, economics and technology. The fourth in a series, this book covers the beginnings of the modern world, when 16th-century Europeans began to realize that their scientific achievements surpassed those of the Greeks and Romans. Western Civilization organized itself around the idea that human technological and moral progress was achievable and desirable. Science emerged in 17th-century Europe as scholars subordinated reason to empiricism. Inspired by the example of physics, men like Robert Boyle began the process of changing alchemy into the exact science of chemistry. During the 18th century, European society became more secular and tolerant. Philosophers and economists developed many of the ideas underpinning modern social theories and economic policies. As the Industrial Revolution fundamentally transformed the world by increasing productivity, people became more affluent, better educated and urbanized, and the world entered an era of unprecedented prosperity and progress.

Incisive contributions from leading and emerging scholars in the field of Peace Studies In the Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Peace, a team of renowned scholars delivers an authoritative and interdisciplinary sourcebook that addresses the key concepts, history, theories, models, resources, and practices in the complex and ambivalent relationship between religion and peace. The editors have included contributions from a wide range of perspectives and locations that reflect diverse methods and approaches. The Companion provides a collection grounded in experience and context that draws on established, developing, and new research characterized by academic rigor. The differences between the approaches taken by several religious traditions are fully explored and numerous case studies highlight relevant theories, models, and resources. Accessible as either a standalone collection or as a partner to the Companion to Religion and Violence, this edited volume also offers: A thorough introduction to religion and its search for peace, including the relationships between religion and peace and theories and practices for studying the interplay between religion and peace Comprehensive explorations of religion and peace in local contexts, including discussions of women's empowerment and peacebuilding in an Islamic context Practical discussions of practices and embodiments of religion and peace, including treatments of museums for peace and self-religion in global peace movements In-depth examinations of lived Christian theologies and building peace, including discussions of Martin Luther King Jr. and spiritual activism in Scotland Perfect for students and scholars of peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peace building, the Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Peace will also earn a place in the libraries of anyone professionally or personally interested in the field of Peace or Religious Studies, International Relations, History, Politics, or Theology.

"The internationalization of the world economy and the economic and political development in Europe are factors that have fostered new interest in the common economic heritage of the European countries. Spanning 500 years, this tale of the economic history of Western Europe seeks to unearth the roots of present day problems."

ÔNot only is this excellent collection of papers a fitting tribute to Angus Maddison, it is also a great resource for thinking about future patterns of global economic growth Ð both in the BRICS and the OECD Ð based on key insights from historical experience.Õ Ð Nicholas Crafts, University of Warwick, UK ÔAngus Maddison may no longer be with us, but his spirit is very much alive. This collection of essays Ð including one by Maddison himself Ð shows how the methods he pioneered continue to shed new light on the comparative performance of nations and inspire successive generations of scholars.Õ Ð Barry Eichengreen, University of California at Berkeley, US ÔThe distinguished editors, leading authorities in the field of comparative quantitative economic development, have gathered a stellar group of authors to address arguably the most challenging question of our time: understanding development dynamics over time and across countries. They are to be congratulated for this comprehensive, stimulating and insightful volume. It is a fitting tribute to the late Angus Maddison, an intellectual giant in the study of long-term economic development, to whom the book is dedicated.Õ Ð Hal Hill, Australian National University World economic performance over the last 50 years has been spectacular. The post-war period has witnessed impressive growth rates in Western Europe and Japan, and in recent times, China and India. This new book discusses these issues and tackles topical questions such as: what are the socio-economic and institutional factors that have contributed to this impressive performance? Will China and India continue to grow at the same rate over the next two decades? What are the prospects for Japan, the US and other advanced economies? The book brings together contributions by eminent scholars including the late Angus Maddison, Professors Justin Lin, Bob Gordon, Ross Garnaut, Bart van Ark and others to provide answers to these fascinating questions. The chapters analyse the economic performance of selected countries including China, India, Japan, Indonesia and the US, as well as Western Europe, Latin America and developing countries as a group. The time period of the study is from 1850 to the present and includes forecasts to 2030. This well-documented book will be of considerable interest to development economists and country specialists working on countries such as China and India, economic historians who are interested in explaining the growth performance of countries, economists and economic statisticians who are interested in the measurement issues, and international organizations such as the OECD, World Bank and the UN. General readers and non-specialists who are interested in the world economic performance will also find much to interest them in this book.

The twelve essays in Women and Wealth in Late Medieval Europe re-examine the vexing issue of women, money, wealth, and power from distinctive perspectives - literature, history, architectural history - using new archival sources. The contributors examine how money and changing attitudes toward wealth affected power relations between women and men of all ranks, especially the patriarchal social forces that constrained the range of women s economic choices. Employing theories on gender, culture, and power, this volume reveals wealth as both the motive force in gender relations and a precise indicator of other, more subtle, forms of power and influence mediated by gender.

There are 17 ingredients in a typical tube of toothpaste, from titanium dioxide to xanthum gum, and that's not counting the tube. Everything had to come from somewhere and someone had to bring it all together. The humblest household product reveals a web of enterprise that stretches around the globe. More is the story of how we spun that web. It begins with the earliest glimmerings of long-distance trade - obsidian blades that made their way from what is now Turkey to the Iran-Iraq border 7,000 years before Christ - and ends with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. On such a grand scale, quirks of historical perspective leap out: futures contracts and commercial branding are among the many seemingly modern components of the global economy have existed since ancient times. Yet it was only in the 18th century that a cascade of innovations began to drive up prosperity in a lasting way around the world. To piece this fascinating saga together, Philip Coggan takes the reader inside medieval cottages and hi-tech hydroponic farms, prehistoric Chinese burial mounds and modern central banks. At every step of our journey, he finds that it was connections between people that created our wealth. Will the same openness continue to serve us in the 21st century?

A primer introduction to key concepts and topics in economics, including microeconomics and macroeconomics.